CPU/Mobo Looking to buy more RAM but have no info about motherboard. Need some help.

A

ashr

Skilled
Hi guys,

My computer's around 3-4 years old. I don't think I really need to upgrade at this point because it still works very well for what I use it for, which is basically watching stuff, grabbing my mail and some Photoshop work.

I used to play plenty of games but these days I only play Quake Live and World of Warcraft. My computer runs these fine (In fact, the last time I checked, it even ran Crysis at High at around 35 to 40fps, 1280x1024 res. Mass Effect 2 was also fine).

I'm almost "upgrading" for the heck of it so I thought I'd put in more RAM before anything else. Can't have enough of it, right? World of Warcraft also runs much better with more RAM.

Anyway, the problem now is I don't know what kinda RAM my motherboard supports. I can't find the manual anywhere and it's some obscure MSI model that nobody seems to have heard of. The only thing I do know is that I only have 2 RAM slots, currently running 2 sticks of 1GB each. I'm not sure if it's 667mhz or 800mhz RAM.

What are my options without having to replace my entire core setup? How much RAM can I get with just 2 slots? If it's not too much to ask, I'd also like to get RAM that will serve me well later in case I decide change everything else too.

If it helps, my processor is a Core 2 Duo E6550 and my GPU is an ATI HD5670 1GB.

Thanks in advance.
 
Why don't you use cpu-z, it is better and easier to understand, i can't understand whether your current ram stick are running at 667 or 800 MHz :(
 
http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&prod_no=1498

Few points to consider, it supports DDR2 single channel, Max supported is 4 GB.

For short term,(If you can not resist :) )

You can safely sell I stick RAM and grab 1 sticks of 2 GB. 3 Gb is good as even If you deploy 4 GB; than also your system will show approx 3.25 at Max.

64 bit OS will do no good.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Read Parallel Processing, Part 2: RAM and HDD : Single Or Dual Channel RAM; Single, Dual And Quad Hard Drives for dual and single channel difference, if you wish. :)
 
ashr said:
Hi guys,

My computer's around 3-4 years old. I don't think I really need to upgrade at this point because it still works very well for what I use it for, which is basically watching stuff, grabbing my mail and some Photoshop work.

I used to play plenty of games but these days I only play Quake Live and World of Warcraft. My computer runs these fine (In fact, the last time I checked, it even ran Crysis at High at around 35 to 40fps, 1280x1024 res. Mass Effect 2 was also fine).
Click to expand...
Final decision upon upgrade to 2X2GB DDR2 800/667 will be yours but I would suggest to drop upgrade, as there won't be much difference and money will stuck into EOL technology. See the cost of 2GB DDR2 800Mhz RAM is 1300-1600 as compared to faster and recent 2GB DDR3 1333Mhz (750-1000 Rs Dynet/Corsair/Kingston). So better either upgrade whole system or drop individual DDR2 RAM upgrade.
 
^^ +1

Its no use upgrading ur ram now. Performance difference is not worth the investment. If you really want to upgrade, upgrade to Sandy Bridge.
 
Best course of action, hold onto to upgrade plans for now (till about June), AMD Zambezi and BullDozer's will have startes shipping by then giving a rough equation against Sandy-Bridge and you can pick whichever brand offers more value OR appeal to you, or if you are really patient Sir wait till Ivy-Bridge.
 
Thank you for the replies people. However, I'd like to point out my usage again. Like I said, my computer is perfectly fine for the things I use it for. The most "intensive" thing I have going on right now is World of Warcraft which is actually an old game. However, it is well known that WoW benefits more from faster processors and more RAM than the latest GPUs (My HD 5670 is more than enough for WoW at 1280x1024).

Now the best course of action for more performance in WoW would surely be upgrading my processor. However, wouldn't that also mean that I'd require a new motherboard, thereby setting me back by around 10k or more? I can't justify that for better performance in one game alone. Sometime ago, I used to play all the latest games but these days, I just don't have the time for it.

I thought the next best course of action would be to maximize my current rig. This is again kinda WoW-specific. The game is known to have sudden spiky fps drops when entering crowded areas. I've read on many forums that more RAM is supposed to help with this. While faster processors give better FPS in WoW, more RAM is known to keep existing fps stable and less prone to sudden drops. Even if I buy 2 new sticks, it would cost me only around 3k as opposed to 10k for a new processor and motherboard, especially when it's only really for one game. Does this make any sense?

@adi_vastava and stalker - Yes, I'm wondering that too. Why wouldn't a 64bit OS utilize all 4GB of RAM?

@CA50 CPU-Z Validator 3.1 :)
 
RAM is cheap.
It's the kind of thing you can spend on for now, and a few months down the line if you feel wasn't enough of an upgrade, you could always get other stuff replaced as well.
 
@ashr , i think its ok with your system, if you want you can add another 2gb ram but before that sell one of your existing ram stick. And also make sure that you buy ram sticks running at 800MHz :)

BTW i have the same proccy as yours and had 630i based mobo:)
 
stalker said:
RAM is cheap.
Click to expand...
True but not the DDR2 sticks anymore. A stick of 2GB DDR2 costs 1.5k whereas a 2GB DDR3 stick costs ~1k and thereabouts. A 4GB single stick costs just 2k ex-Deltapage pricing! :O Seems like DDR2 is phasing out gradually which explains the increase in DDR2 prices.

For ashr's system, a RAM upgrade is probably the best he can do without splurging much. If he can spend a bit more for a good aftermarket heatsink, he could buy one and overclock the processor to squeeze the last bits out of it. If the board doesn't support overclocking, sell the board and the RAM sticks, get a G41 based DDR3 board from Gigabyte and a couple of 4GB DDR3 sticks. Although it might be stretching the budget a bit.
 
^yeah, i almost forgot that, OP can OC the proccy it is very good for OCing, sometimes i run mine at 3GHz, and your mobo do support OC, but to a little extent with limited options :(
 
i would suggest you to sell off the mobo and the ddr2 rams and then grab a G41 mobo and 4gb of ddr3. plain and simple. overclock if you feel like. you should feel a difference and you wont have to spend much also :)
 
^I could do that but it just seems like more trouble than what it's worth. Currently there's nothing I do that warrants the latest hardware. More than the money, I always feel like I don't maximize my rig's usage. When I bought this computer (with a 8800GT that died), it was considered relatively powerful for that time. Of course, I loaded all the latest games like Crysis, Dirt, ME2 etc but never really played any of them. I'd just go back to staples like Quake and Warcraft that run on pretty much anything.

Would 4GB of DDR3 give me much better performance than 4GB DDR2?

I think what I could do right now is buy two sticks of DDR2 800Mhz RAM and maybe OC my CPU. Any recommendations on which ones to buy? Is there also some guide on very basic overclocking? I've never attempted it before.
 
^ In RAM alone upgrade scenario, buy 2GBX2 DDR2 800 sticks of Transcend/Kingston, which would cost around 1400+1400=2800~ Second hand 1GBX2 DDR2 sticks can fetch 1000~ in the TE Member's market. The DDR3 memory based system will give better performance but at cost of Gigabyte G41 MB and 4GB DDR3 RAM( 2400+2000)-(1500+1000 roughly for second hand parts)=1900 Rs in net.
 
ashr said:
^I could do that but it just seems like more trouble than what it's worth. Currently there's nothing I do that warrants the latest hardware. More than the money, I always feel like I don't maximize my rig's usage. When I bought this computer (with a 8800GT that died), it was considered relatively powerful for that time. Of course, I loaded all the latest games like Crysis, Dirt, ME2 etc but never really played any of them. I'd just go back to staples like Quake and Warcraft that run on pretty much anything.

Would 4GB of DDR3 give me much better performance than 4GB DDR2?

I think what I could do right now is buy two sticks of DDR2 800Mhz RAM and maybe OC my CPU. Any recommendations on which ones to buy? Is there also some guide on very basic overclocking? I've never attempted it before.
Click to expand...
You can get yourself a 2gb ram stick from any reputed brand, but its better to get one from transcend, as your current ram's are from transcend. Same vendor improves ram compatibility for dual channel.

And about OC, check your bios, it might have some section like "cell menu", there you can change the FSB of the proccy. Currently some of other selling like Intel EIST or CE1 are enable, before OCing, you will have to disable these options. Play with your BIOS, its always fun to play with BIOS :)
 
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